More evidence of a software-based fix for iPhone 3G issues

Recent reports support the notion that the iPhone 3G's connection problems are …

There has been much ado about the iPhone 3G and its problems with dropped calls and stalled network connections. My own experience in Chicago has been pleasant overall, besides in subway tunnels and in my own apartment—both places which, it should be noted, have issues with virtually any cell phone. But others have not been so lucky.

Previous reports have suggested issues with iPhone hardware, software, or AT&T's network. For its part, AT&T maintains that the issue is not with its network. "Where people experience network issues, we actively work to identify the issue and work to address them. We have always done this; it isn't specific to a device, but just part of our ongoing work to make the network as strong as it can be," AT&T spokesperson Brad Mays told Ars. But since the issues aren't limited to US customers, and users of other handsets don't seem to be complaining, it stands to reason that AT&T's network can't be the cause.

Other reports suggest that the issue is related to the 3G radio chipset in the iPhone 3G and that the issue can be fixed via a software update. A MacRumors reader claims to have received a response from Steve Jobs (or someone writing on his behalf) to complaints about the connection issues. The response read, "We are working on some bugs which affect around 2% of the iPhones shipped, and hope to have a software update soon."

A blog post from former Apple employee Chuq Von Rospach also lends some weight to the fact that a software fix could be coming. Though characterized as friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend-type hearsay, it fits what little evidence there is so far:

What I was told was that 90% of the disconnects are initiated inside the phone, which would exonerate AT&T. Most of the disconnects are being generated by crashes in the driver code for the 3G chip, which comes from the chip vendor, not something Apple written and outside of Apple's direct control. Complicating this [is the fact that] even though Apple is handing over "here is the bug, here is the fix, update the driver," the turnaround from the vendor on driver updates is on the order of 2-3 months. Said, um, lack of urgency [is] not exactly making people inside the project happy.

If the information is accurate, a software fix is possible, but it appears that such a fix might be delayed depending on response from 3G chip vendor Infineon. Von Ropach suggests the PA Semi acquisition could be a move on Apple's part to reduce reliance on third-party vendors to fix such issues. Unfortunately, that's little comfort for iPhone users who are having problems and who may be stuck waiting for the fix for a couple months. Even if the 2 percent figure is accurate, that means 60,000 or more unhappy customers.